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LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - British travel company ThomasCook stuck to its annual profit guidance on Tuesday,after strong demand for summer holidays to destinations otherthan Turkey helped offset pressure on the group.
Exposure to Turkey, the group's second most populardestination in 2015, has dragged on Thomas Cook this year asholidaymakers have been put off by an attack on tourists inIstanbul in January and a failed coup in July.
For the twelve months ended Sept. 30, Thomas Cook isexpecting to post operating profit of 300 million pounds ($389.4 million), an outlook it reconfirmed on Tuesday, withbookings excluding Turkey up 8 percent this summer.
Customers changing their plans to travel to Spanishdestinations rather than Turkey had forced Thomas Cook to lowerits profit guidance range by 3-10 percent in July, adding todifficulties after the group warned about delayed bookings inMarch on worries over security.
Thomas Cook's larger rival TUI Group has so farweathered the disruption connected to Turkey better as it isless exposed to the country. It is due to issue a pre-closestatement on Wednesday.
Including Turkey, group bookings for the summer, when ThomasCook makes all its profit, were down 4 percent, with customersopting for holidays in the Balearic and Canary Islands and theUnited States.
Summer bookings from the UK were higher than last yeardespite concerns that the devaluation of the pound after theBrexit vote in June would lower British appetite to travelabroad.
Bookings for this winter were broadly in line with lastyear, Thomas Cook added.
($1 = 0.7704 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton)
